Like I said above, Comer's working with some fascinating (and insightful) content here. My copy of Live No Lies is filled with highlights, and - while I don't agree with all of his conclusions or tone - I think this book can generate a lot of great conversation among conservative and liberal Christians (and hopeful expose his readers to some other really great authors and intellectuals). People need to know that our actions are not neutral. Whenever we do, say, or even think something, it is easier to do, say, or think that same thing again. Eventually, we become people shaped by every decision we have made. Here’s the key message: To resist the devil and his lies, Christians should try to be more like Jesus. You should read this book if you’re looking for a sense of confidence in searching for discernment against lies (he titled the book well, I promise). This book is also helpful for a deeper understanding of living the good life with Jesus, deepening in intimacy with Him, and learning how to better serve your church/community (the last chapter really hits on this). My point is simply this: our deepest desires—usually to become people of goodness and love—are often sabotaged by the stronger surface-level desires of our flesh.” (p. 122)

The battle is not just out there in the surrounding culture, with its secularism and alternative faith systems. It is an internal fight. There is a war going on for our souls, and within our souls, and the main weapons against us are lies. Eventually, if we believe such lies we will live them, hence the title. What goes around comes around. This is an idea shared by many people, regardless of religious belief – though it appears in the Bible too. Jesus made reference to it, and Paul explained the idea using a farming metaphor: a man reaps what he sows. Practicing the Way is a vision for the future that has been shaped by the wisdom of the past. As an introduction to spiritual formation, it’s an accessible invitation to beginners and lifelong followers of Jesus. Comer offers theological substance, astute cultural insight, and practical wisdom for creating a Rule of Life in the modern age. Jesus offers Christians the perfect example of relationships and reality, which you could also call spirit and truth. He came to show the world the truth, and he came in the form of a teacher – a human being who could relate to other people. Christians should follow his example by connecting with others and focusing on the truth. We are at war. Not with a foreign government or domestic terrorists or a creepy new artificial intelligence hell-bent on taking over the world. No, it’s a war we feel deep inside our own chests: we are at war with lies.

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The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World There’s a tendency to dismiss certain past beliefs as evidence of our ancestors’ inferior intellect. But people are no more intelligent today than they were in the past. Maybe the people who believed in the devil were right after all.

The book had me thinking of when, in Tim Keller's biography by Collin Hansen, he describes the explosive popularity of his 2009 book The Reason For God. That was a time when, generally speaking, Christianity was still relatively, culturally neutral and straightforward apologetics of whether or not God exists and the Bible is true were very helpful. Just a couple years later, Keller (and others in the wider Christian world) noticed a marked shift in the way Christianity was perceived (negatively, as opposed to neutrally) and how its claims came up against new vernacular and thought regarding morality and expressive individualism in the modern age. That's why Keller wrote Making Sense Of God - as a sort of update to The Reason For God to match this marked shift in how the modern western culture thinks. Life is a process of spiritual formation. Every moment of every day, people change and gradually become their own unique person. For Christians, the question is: How can I become more like Jesus, and not like the devil? In addition, a church should be a community of holiness, set apart from the hedonism of secular society. For example, Christians should be mindful of their sexual behavior and attitudes, and use their bodies to honor God.

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Live No Lies (2021) is a survival guide for Christians living in troubled times. It analyzes the main challenges facing Christians today, including lies from the devil and the influences of Western secular society, which are often incompatible with religious values. It also offers spiritual practices for Christians to adopt and suggests some possible ways for churches to adapt to post-Christian culture. Who is it for? Complementary to his 2019 book ���The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry’ Comer advertises the LIFE that is to be found through practising spiritual disciplines - in particular fasting and confession. He exposes the contemporary, post-modernist lie that ‘doing what you want’ and ‘following your heart’ is where freedom is found. In actuality, true freedom is only found in ‘slavery’ to Christ, in self-denial not self-fulfilment, to submit your own desires and be shaped by the Spirit. The result: Life and Peace (Romans 8:6b). Love is the desire not to take but to give. It’s the settled intention of the heart to promote good in the life of another.” According to scripture, anything that has control over a person is their master. By that definition, a huge part of Western society is enslaved – people compulsively chase after their desires, looking for freedom and happiness in the wrong places.

Reading scripture is another useful practice. When a person makes a habit of immersing themselves in scripture, they replace the devil’s lies with God’s truth – and eventually rewire their brains. It took me a while to get to reading any of Comer's work (starting with The Ruthless Elimination Of Hurry), for pretty lame reasons. But honestly he continues to astound me with both how well-read he is, and how capable he is of translating the wisdom of these giant thinkers in philosophy, sociology, psychology, history and -obviously- theology and spiritual formation into understandable and approachable vernacular. I’ve been training myself to be a gracious reader, seeing the best in other writers. That practice has made me resistant to offering critiques, even when I have them, though I also believe I’m morally obligated to offer critiques in love. Fortunately for this book, I really don’t have any. Perhaps Comer could have camped out a bit longer in some biblical texts, but I wasn’t bothered by his approach. He was paying attention to the original languages and engaging with historical and contemporary voices throughout. I found the book clear, focused, and profoundly useful. Should You Read It? When a person fasts, they train their body to not get what it wants. They stop giving into their desires, so they are no longer controlled by them. Of course, being deprived of food is a form of suffering, but it’s a lesson in suffering with joy. It can even be a path to freedom. This insight about “deepest vs. strongest” desires is similar to the “important vs. urgent” idea. We need to stop choosing something now at the cost of something better later.Jesus highlights the extent of the devil’s power, to all the kingdoms of this world, not just a particular locality. Lies, that come in the form of deceptive ideas, are the devil’s primary method of enslaving human beings and entire human societies in a vicious cycle of ruin that leads us further and further east of Eden.”